urban future organization (au)

chapel street gym and lifestyle nodemelbourne. vic. australia

we have been asked to make a proposal for the reuse of 303 chapel street, melbourne - a vast edwardian building with upper floors that have been left largely unused for the past fifty years. the brief required a lifestyle retail zone on the 1st floor, a gym on the 2nd and 3rd and offices on the 4th. through the design of an artificial interior landscape as a spatial arrangement methodology, the proposal aims to combine the grandeur of the existing building with an alternative zoning technique and a rich mixture of commercial and retail program which work on a flexible plan.

the generous floor area of the building has allowed us to be more playful with the organisation of space and program with each of the four floors linked through the idea of using the internal landscape as opposed to traditional vertical separations. the zones are arranged between the landscape not only using the forms as a means of spatial separation, but also as work and display surfaces. the forms are sculpted to allow for various media to be displayed including print, audio and visual media.

the gym is organised in a similar sequence of spaces divided between areas of high-energy individual workouts areas and group studios. again the concept is to allow the user to engage and utilize the separate zones by having a visual connectivity with each area but also being separated by the artificial landscape.

the existing main void in the centre of the building allows a vast amount of light to enter whilst its external floor area has been levelled to allow for an outdoor exercise space and climbing wall.

throughout the artificial landscape, modules can be swapped and implemented as elements for training such as step aerobics and stretching training as well as seating and counter tops for storing towels and drinks.

stage: schematic design
urban future - axonometric